TITLE:
Improved Groundnut Performance under Natural Field Leaf Spot and Rosette Mosaic Virus Infections in the South Western Agro-Ecological Zone of Uganda
AUTHORS:
Peace Kankwatsa, Laban Turyagyenda, Maggiore Kyomugisha, K. D. Okello
KEYWORDS:
Improved Groundnut, Adaptability, Disease Resistance, Yield and SWAEZ
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.8 No.5,
May
14,
2021
ABSTRACT: For farmers to satisfy the food, nutrition and income demands on groundnut in the South Western Agro-Ecological Zone (SWAEZ), the accessibility, and adaptability of economically viable and high performing varietal and non-varietal technologies must increase to enhance production. Field experiments to evaluate the agronomic performance of advanced lines of improved nine AGRA red, nine Spanish and six Serenut varieties were concurrently carried out on-station at the Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MbaZARDI) in Mbarara District, Uganda. The AGRA red and Spanish groundnut lines showed high levels of rosette mosaic disease (GRD) tolerance in the zone. The short AGRA and Spanish lines were highly resistant to leaf spots, while the tall lines were highly susceptible to leaf spots, and not drought tolerant. The late maturing AGRA lines (SGV 99241 and SGV 99046), yielded better than the early maturing lines (SGV 99065 and SGV 99043). The best performing AGRA lines identified for promotion in the zone were SGV 99241, 99046, 99064, 99048, 99019 and 99032. The most leaf spot-resistant Spanish line was ICGV SM 02501, but lines ICGV SM 01514, ICGV SM 03590, ICGV SM 01515 and ICGV SM 01502 displayed varying levels of resistance during the two seasons of 2015. Spanish lines: ICGV SM 01502, ICGV SM 99568, ICGV SM 01504, ICGV SM 01510, ICGV SM 99555, ICGV SM 01514 and ICGV SM 01515 were suitable for growing in the SWAEZ. Spanish lines that were either highly resistant or resistant to groundnut rosette virus disease (GRD), unfortunately, were either moderately-susceptible or susceptible to the leaf spot diseases. Therefore, the tested Spanish lines were only suitable to environments that are prone to GRD but free of the leaf spot pathogens. AGRA red lines SGV 99241, SGV 99046, SGV 99064, SGV 99048, SGV 99019 and SGV 99032 were the best performing. Of the Serenut varieties evaluated, Serenut 5R was early maturing and rosette mosaic virus tolerant. Apart from Serenut 1; Serenut 2, 3R, 4R, 5R and 6T displayed very high levels of tolerance to rosette mosaic virus disease. The combination of moderate resistance (MR)-resistance (R) and high resistance (HR) in the AGRA red lines and Serenut varieties to leaf spots and rosette mosaic virus, respectively, indicated an effective control measure of the major groundnut disease problems in the zone. The integration of moderate-resistance to high disease resistance, high drought tolerance and high yielding potential in several Serenut, AGRA red and Spanish lines can enhance groundnut production if proper agronomic management practices and timely planting are applied.